Wind turbines: the next generation?

[dewline]

This might solve a few NIMBY-type issues in a few places...or a lot of places.

http://grist.org/climate-energy/invention-of-the-day-a-bladeless-wind-turbine/

Reactions?

Thanks to saskboy_wp for the clue-in.

Comments

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

But what of Peak Wind? Oh, how you will all lament when the air runs out.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

At the risk of being the straight man in someone else's joke: is such a thing even seriously foreseeable in anyone's lifetime right now?

[neowolf2.livejournal.com]

This idea has been around for decades. There must be a reason it has never caught on. Excessive structural cost, water usage, high voltage arcing, and inefficiency of downshifting the high voltage output all seem like they would be problems.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

Well, someone made some progress somewhere or the idea wouldn't be making a comeback now.

But what about the birds?

[ed-rex.livejournal.com]

If it's not going to kill our Winged Foes, what the hell's the point?

[neowolf2.livejournal.com]

Well, frm what I can see, the design they have will suffer from corona discharge. Also, if there is no collector surface, charges will accumulate on nearby objects. This could be hazardous if used in populated areas.

I suspect rain, dust or fog would also discharge their system. It might function as a fog collector!

Maybe the best use would be at sea.

The original idea of electrostatic collection of wind energy dates back to the 1960s and 1970s, with a fellow named Marks having important patents in 1977.